Curriculum ridiculum.
Forget this reading crap. Are our children learning life's really important lessons early enough?
I got through both high school and college with As and Bs, and I don't believe I ever cracked a book.
I'm not proud of it.
But I didn't miss a single class in four years of college. I read Cliff Notes, took class notes like crazy, paid attention, spent time with my professors, and took study partners and practice tests seriously. I had a math partner in college who had big boobs and wore a tight T-shirt that said "STOP STARING AT MY TITS."
But I digress.
Today, I read news voraciously from at least a dozen sources daily, and I consider myself somewhat of a Middle East buff. I read about technology (well, not enough about phone service) future fuels, politics, interest rates, real estate, war, advertising, health, music and movies.
I even avoid Fox News wherever possible.
What's my point? I'll tell you. The last 16 years of my life suggest to me that our school curriculums are not adequate.
We all took the obligatory language, math, history, science, social studies (whatever that means), health ed, art, and gym.
Did we ever learn how to invest money? Or even how to balance a checkbook? No, we didn't. We worked at a hardware store after school, and borrowed money from Dad.
Did we ever learn how to get a mortgage? No, we didn't. We didn't learn this until we had to know it, and by then it was too late. I can attest to this personally. Everything I learned about mortgages I learned on the fly, and during the excruciating process of refinancing. How much would I have saved in interest, fees, points and aggravation had I known about all this stuff in advance? Fantastic amounts.
Did we learn how to fix anything in shop class? No, we didn't. We made ashtrays and lamps or other useless shit.
Did we learn in any class how much exercise we need or how to eat right? About portion control and trans-fats? No, we didn't. I broke my thumb playing basketball, and we threw cookie batter at each other in home-ec. Good times.
Did we learn about recent relevant political history? Did we learn about the origins or the scope of Arab ire? Of the long-term effects of global warming or the disastrous consequences of excess greenhouse gases and melting ice caps? Or the insufficient progress of new battery technology? About managing our future? No, no, and no.
We learned about Washington crossing the Delaware. We learned about the Crusades. We learned about Reaganomics. We learned about Orion's Belt. We read Catcher In The Rye. Well, most of us did. But an argument can be made for the answer to this question: Who cares?
Don't get me wrong. I'm not knocking education. When I meet someone with an advanced degree, or someone who can speak half a dozen languages, I get all tingly with jealosy. And I get that those who don't understand the past are condemned to repeat it. It is also debatable whether children should necessarily have all of these "adult" things thrust upon them by age 18 anyway.
And George Washington was a really important guy. For sure, teachers work hard; we wouldn't be where we are without them. But when you watch the news, you see that we're falling behind in the world. And in our own lives. Well, I am. It seems to me that there are things besides the standard content of your high school courses that are just more important to our current survival and success. I think it's because more in the world has changed in the past 20 years than remained the same. Our education system simply has not kept up. What do we do? We fill in the holes. We improvise. We get thrown into situations and we learn the hard way. We sue each other. We take advantage of those who know less. The system needs work.
As a child, I was blessed to have parents who sent me on every kind of lesson there was: Ski lessons, swim lessons, music lessons, martial arts lessons, language lessons, soccer camp, you name it. And it wasn't because they had money: growing up, my parents shared a shitty used car, and the only vacationing they ever did was when my grandparents flew over to Europe from the U.S. to see us. My parents sacrificed a lot for my brother and I. They wanted us to be exposed to every conceivable skillset, so we'd be more prepared for later life. It made a difference, and I'll force this sort of thing on my kids as they whine kicking and screaming. And they'll thank me when I'm old. Not everyone gets these opportunities.
Meanwhile, I took a stab at an addendum to today's curriculums, in an effort to get kids today to be better prepared for tomorrow. Think what you will. Comment if you like. Or if you don't. Educate me.
In addition to the basics; math, science, history, literature (oops!) and gym, these are some month-long crash courses that I'd add as requirements somewhere within the eight years of high school and college, if I had any qualifications or authority on the matter. Maybe it's just a glossy brochure and an hour guest lecture. Maybe it's both. Of course, those who major in finance are automatically ahead of the game. Not to mention those who are lucky enough, smart enough, or disciplined enough to go through law school/medical school/business school or other advanced trade school.
That leaves the other 90% of us. I'm not saying that 15-year-olds need to know everything about Muni bonds. But I have to believe that some basics will go a long way when they graduate with a clue. I wish I did.
FINANCE Courses:
Understanding Credit Cards
Networking & How To Look For A Job
Balancing Your Checkbook & Budgeting
Personal Investing, 401ks & Interest: The Benefits Of Starting Early
Understanding & Preparing Taxes
Understanding Real Estate
Understanding Renter's/Homeowner's Insurance
Understanding Life Insurance
HEALTH & SOCIAL Courses:
First Aid
The Importance Of Exercise & Eating Right
Personal Hygeine
Dating
Social Ettiquette & Getting-Your-Lazy-Ass-Off-The-Computer-And
-Interacting-With-Other-Humans
How To Play Cards
Understanding Wines & Liquor
Understanding Health Insurance
Social Security & Our Aging Parents
BASICS Courses:
How To Buy/Rent A Car
How To Change A Tire
How To Buy/Use A Computer
New Technology
100 Things You Can Fix Yourself
Public Transit & How To Get Around
Understanding Global Warming
Recycling
Home Security & Personal Defense
Dealing With Customer Service
Basics Of US Government
Politics & World Leaders
Understanding Europe
Understanding The Middle East
Understanding Central & South America
Understanding Asia
Warfare & Nuclear Weapons; Current Conflicts
Why We Vote
Going To Jury Duty
Filling Out Applications
How To Organize & Keep Records
How To Use Maps
Ebay Is Your Friend
Synopsis Of The World's Great Religions
posted by Mark Feigenson at 11:54 AM
4 Comments:
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Bravo!
But I don't think you've gone far enough. I think we need to rethink the entire structure of how information is taugh.
In the US, we spend more per student than any other country in the world- this is an undisputed fact. Yet we rank 15th in education. This hides an uglier fact. If you separate out private schools from public schools, the US private school systems together ranks #1 in the world. This means that, when the top ranked private schools are factored in to prop them up, the public schools are only brought UP to rank #15 (or you could conversely say that the #1 school system in the world in dragged all the way down to 15th, once the public system is factored in). There is no study that I'm aware of that ranks US public schools alone, sans private schools, and I'm sure the pathetic teacher's union would suppress it if such a study existed. My numbers are a few years old and come from an article in the Economist magazine.
I support school vouchers 110%. Give people who cannot afford a private school the option to take their tax dollars (it is their money, after all), and give them to the school (public or private) that they feel suites their child's needs best. We HAVE to introduce competition in the educational system. Free market competition is what this country and our culture does best. We need to inject that into our educational system.
Then we need to explore the student/classroom/teacher paradigm that we've been using for the past century. I question it. People talk about student teacher ratios. It is my belief that this is as much a reflection of teachers' unintended dual role as educator and police. The need for high student/teacher ratios is said to be for more 1-to-1 student time, but also as much for a teachers inability to manage/control/discipline more than X number of students at any one time. The disciplinary responsibility needs to be divorced from the educator. The best teachers could be freed to have larger classes, and a disciplinary assistant would handle 'out-of-line' students (yes, I'm suggesting classroom-cops).
We then need to take advantage of the technology at our disposal- internet, wifi, broadband, and near infinite cable channels, to distribute the knowledge, best lectures, and other data throughout the entire school system. The teachers would no longer have to be geologically confined within the school system. Courses could be broadcast or otherwise digitally disseminated, and the true Rock-Star teachers could travel the country, teaching their best courses in multiple cities throughout the school year... and this, having all summer off crap has to end. Kids should get a split school year with say a few weeks off in the summer and a few weeks off in the winter, and otherwise be in school year round.
Then, no less important, the parents have to step up to bat and get involved.
I have a few other opinions, but I think I've made my point.
Mark, thanks for giving me a forum to spout off about my favorite rant.
cheers,
Chris
http://gigantico.squarespace.com
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Chris- thanks for the great response. I knew I was on to something, even if I did just scratch the surface.
This has always been a sore spot with me and I agree with what Chris introduced.
No one will disagree that there certainly are the haves and the have-nots in our system/country. Why do parents sign their in-utero fetuses up for preschool at the 92nd Street Y or for the Greenwich Country Day School - becuase they are started on a system to get them into Brown.
Are these baby geniuses? I think not, they still drool and pick their noses; even while wearing a $200 outfit from the shops you need to be buzzed into on the Upper East Side.
But kids that don't have access to such a programs have to fend for themselves and pick up what they can.
I interned with a museum program the did outreach and programs for specfic schools; teachers were overwhelmed with trying to get the state-mandated cirriculm acomplished while also trying to make sure every kid got a lunch [as some had not had a meal since yeterday's school provided lunch], keep an eye out for signs of abuse, talk with kids as a counselor, worked to make sure the ESL students understood their assignments and that every kid cleared the security check on the way in. The teachers LOVED the program; they loved that they got to sit down and take a breather, but that they also got to see their kids engaged in a new enviroment when they came to the museum or used the artifacts we brought to their classroom.
All in all, I am saying that teachers have to wear so many hats and they are pulled in many directions; they try to work with parents who have the ability/opportunity to be involved.
I can really get behind the idea of a disapline section of school; no I am not saying bring back the switch; but I do understand how the lack of respect toward elders and teachers threatens our social fabric. There is nothing wrong with manners and showing someone the respect you have for yourself by treating them with even greater respect.
...maybe we should start a school.. :)
Bravo on (again) thinking outside the box. I've long thought the same about all the finance shit, in particular. It's astounding, really, how woefully unprepared kids are for the real world. Christ, at 36, i'm still ignorant of a lot of that shit...and I think i'm generally pretty bright.
Gary S.
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